Controlling immigration – more than just a mug’s game

There is a peculiar silence that occurs from time to time on the doorstep. It is normally after the householder realises that you are from the Labour Party and you have asked them what issue concerns them most.

It is the silence where they get their thoughts together and desperately try to say immigration in the nicest way possible. It’s probably because the nation as a whole is made up of lovely people getting on with their lives and we are introducing something very uncomfortable into their evening.

Immigration is toxic.

Neither participant in the conversation wants to appear racist, but as every poll tells us, immigration is constantly one of the top 3 issues on the minds of voters. Our own uncomfortableness about taking immigration head-on allows the louder voices of Farage and Cameron to drown us out.

Against the noise, we appear silent.

And while we grope for the right words, comfortable in the knowledge that no one can hear us, Cameron and May have dismantled Britain’s borders. In 2010 there were 24,474 FTE staff working on the border, and now the figure is nearer 18,000. Of the over 5,000 staff that went, the most experienced went first.

No matter what your politics, it is a brave person that argues that there should be no border controls. Tory cuts have led to a reduction in drug seizures and concerns that simple checks mean Britain is an easy target for trafficking, slavery and abuse.

Labour is strong on immigration. Policies to charge entrants to pay for border control and to invest in infrastructure for introducing exit checks is of benefit to all of society. It protects the most vulnerable in society – those in the arms of the people smugglers.

‘Controlling immigration’ is one side of the coin. The other is ensuring that companies can access the skilled migrants required to be productive in a global economy, agricultural workers to keep our supermarket shelves stocked and students to enrich our academic life.

These aren’t toxic issues. These aren’t race issues. These are the issues at the heart of the Labour movement.

When workers are forced to compete at the lowest price point, driving wages down, the whole economy suffers. Anecdotally we hear stories of people being paid below the minimum wage in a range of sectors, employers using various legal and barely legal loopholes. Estimates on the impact of paying less than the minimum wage vary, and we need to get to the bottom of the true cost of the grey economy on our workforce, and the unfair competitive advantage gained on small businesses.

The human cost of not investing in our borders and neglecting investment in our immigration infrastructure reverberates across the political debate. Championing the NHS, championing small business and championing ‘hard working families’ has at its very heart, the issue of immigration.

The next time it goes quiet on the doorstep I hope I can point out our party leader’s strong stance on immigration. Our attack on Tory mismanagement, UKIP’s incoherence and those parties that tack to our left in idealist inexperience, should underlie a strong and proud message on immigration.